The ‘Filipino Flash’ Nonito Donaire wasn’t too flashy on Feb. 4 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, but still did enough to win the WBO’s vacant Super Bantamweight Championship. Donaire came out on the right side of a split decision over former titleholder Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. by scores of 112-115, 117-110, and 117-110. He also scored a flash knockdown in the ninth round.

The fight started slowly as Puerto Rico’s Vasquez found Donaire’s speed and footwork a little too much. However, he seemed to get more comfortable round after round and started to loosen up. But even when Vasquez did get into a bit of a groove he usually threw just one punch at a time. They didn’t seem to have much power on them, but did cause some swelling around Donaire’s eyes.

Donaire went to Vasquez’s body quite often in the early rounds and landed some solid left hooks there. However, he strayed from this strategy and focused mainly on his opponent’s head as the rounds wore on. Donaire hurt Vasquez in the third round with a good left uppercut and then a follow left to the top of the head. He sensed that Vasquez was hurt and then unleashed a wild flurry with his opponent trapped in a corner.  Vasquez survived the round though and had recovered by the start of the fourth.

Vasquez started to turn the tide in the fifth and sixth rounds when he started to follow up his left jabs with some decent right hands. Donaire came back in the seventh, eighth and ninth and dropped Vasquez in the ninth with another beautiful uppercut and left hook.

Donaire’s generally regarded by most boxing fans and experts to be one of the top five-pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but it was hard to tell against Vasquez. It was his first fight in the super bantamweight division though, so maybe that had something to do with it. With the win, Donaire raised his record to 28-1, with 18 KOs while Vazquez’s record fell to 21-2-1, with 17 KOs.

It’s also possible that Donaire’s mediocre performance could have been the result of a damaged or broken left hand. When he took his gloves off in the ring after the bout the hand wraps on his left hand were soaked in blood. However, it was unclear where it came from. Donaire knew he didn’t fight to his potential and admitted it after the fight.

He said he might stay at the 122 lb. super bantamweight division for a few more fights before thinking about moving up in weight again. There wasn’t any controversy surrounding the fight other than some trash talk in pre-fight press conferences. However, there are millions of fans questioning the score card of Ruben Garcia who judged the fight 115-112 for Vasquez, especially after Donaire dropped him in the ninth and had him on the ropes in the third round.

Donaire’s had two mediocre performances in a row now, both on national television in America. If he doesn’t pick up the pace in his next fight it’ll be hard to justify ranking him as one of the planet’s best pound-for pound boxers.

It’s hard to blame Nonito Donaire of the Philippines for his contribution in one of the worst boxing matches in recent history on Oct. 22. At least he came to fight. The same can’t be said of his opponent Omar Narvaez of Argentina as Donaire shut him out on all three judges’ scorecards when he won by scores of 120-108 across the board. After the debacle, several media outlets suggested that boxing needs a winner-take-all type of purse system or at least something similar to make sure boxers actually fight when the bell rings. However, it’s highly unlikely we’re going to see fighters entering the ring with no guaranteed money going their way.

Also, after Donaire and Narvaez put the majority of fans to sleep with 12 rounds of cat and mouse, Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland woke them up on Nov. 5 with their brutal and exciting slugfest. It was one of the best fights of the past few years and the guaranteed pay system was the same as in the Donaire vs Narvaez fight. One solution mentioned would be to guarantee the fighters so much money per round won or points earned. For instance, a boxer who wins two-thirds of a 12-round fight would take home two thirds of the money. But what happens in the case of a knockout or when a boxer doesn’t win a round?

A better solution would be a bonus system where the fighters are both guaranteed a decent paycheck with the winner taking home the bonus. Top Rank Boxing has said they’ll pay a $100,000 bonus to anybody who can beat Donaire. This is a good start, but there are still fighters out there who are looking to survive when faced against the sport’s best instead of trying to win.

Donaire said it was a good idea to basically place a bounty on his head as it should result in more competitive fights. In addition, if Donaire wins he’ll be the one who pockets the bonus money. Basically, it’s something that the UFC does on its cards, but their fighters’ guaranteed wages are a lot lower than an elite boxer’s. Freddie Roach uses the same tactic in Manny Pacquiao’s training camps by offering $1,000 to any of his sparring partners that can deck the WBO Welterweight Champion.

Offering a bonus shouldn’t be needed in boxing, but it’s just a fact of life that some boxers are a different breed than others. Putting $100,000 out there to beat Donaire will hopefully spruce things up the next time he fights, but it’s no guarantee as some opponents are simply unwilling to engage in a fight, such as Narvaez showed the world. Still a bonus system is better than nothing if it means we don’t have to endure another fight like Donaire-vs Narvaez.

Manny Pacquiao is not just the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today, he’s also a massive draw with fellow pros.

But he might just lose his status as No.1 in the hearts of fellow Filipinos soon, if Nonito Donaire continues his rise to fulfill his belief that “God has a plan and I have faith in God’s plan” to see him unify the belts at bantamweight.

Donaire, the newly-crowned WBO/WBC champ, arrived in Manila yesterday morning, his flight having taken the Bohol boxer all the way from Los Angeles to the Philippines to spend three weeks observing the Pac-Man in training.

Manny, who began his high-altitude training sessions last weekend in Baguio City, has also been joined, of course, by his trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, while British light-welterweight star Amir Khan came in on the same flight.

Khan has been lined up to face Northern Irishman Paul McCloskey back in England on April 14 to defend his WBA crown, but, as he is training under Roach, will join Manny some time over the next few days.

Pacquiao began light training last week as he gets in shape for his bout with American Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on May 7. He has so far put in some morning roadwork, a few games of basketball, and a few sessions in the mitts with long-time trainer and friend Buboy Fernandez.

Also there are the Pac-Man’s frequent sparring partners, undefeated welterweight Shawn Porter, from Akron in Ohio, and David Rodela, who is also Khan’s sparring mate, as well as Filipina WBO bantamweight Ana Julaton – a recent winner against Francesca Alcanter.

However, although these coaches and boxers are there to work with or watch Manny, 28-year-old Donaire – who stopped Fernando Montiel in the second round to pick up the crowns on February 19 – is fast becoming a favorite with a nation now engrossed with their potent pugilists.

Donaire deserves the adulation, too, having become only the third Asian fighter – and second Filipino after the great man – to hold titles in three different divisions, with crowns also in flyweight and super-flyweight.

When Mexican Montiel landed a right to Donaire’s head in Las Vegas as month, the Filipino Flash responded with a devastating left he believes was “the hardest punch of my career” that left his opponent crumpled on the canvas. But Montiel somehow got back to his feet, only for Donaire to rush over and land a left then a right that resulted in referee Russell Mora stopping the bout just five minutes and 25 seconds in.

Now ranked No.3 in the world’s pound-for-pound ratings behind Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr, Donaire – $350,000 the richer after his latest victory – will return to the United States at the end of the month to prepare for his next fight, which he hopes will be a unification bout with WBA holder Anselmo Moreno, of Panama, at the Oakland Coliseum on May 28.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum is attempting to set that clash up, although no contract has yet been signed, while promoter Gary Shaw wants Moreno to face Venezuelan Lorenzo Parra ahead of Donaire.

With Donaire’s contract with Top Rank up in a few months, there has been speculation that Golden Boy Promotions will sign the in-demand Filipino. But he’s just looking to get back in the ring to face whoever manager Cameron Dunkin and Arum sign up as his next opponent.

No matter who is lined up, though, three boxing legends believe Donaire is poised to become as big a star as Manny – especially after his destruction of Montiel.

Former world champion Roy Jones Jr reckons “God had blessed this kid with wonderful talent”, while Mexican legends Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera – while commentating on the fight – said Donaire gave “an amazing performance”.

The rightly confident Donaire described himself as “a monster” after the Montiel fight. Certainly, he’s set to become a monster box office star in the world of boxing very soon.